“LeBron is getting all the credit and none of the blame” – Ex-Cavaliers GM ripped LeBron James for making his time in Cleveland “miserable” originally appeared on Basketball Network.
When David Griffin left Cleveland, he walked away with a championship but also with something heavier.
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The pressure of building around LeBron James had left a mark. Griffin had been the general manager for three seasons, all with James at the center of everything. Even though they reached the top in 2016, the experience was draining in a way that never faded.
“LeBron is getting all the credit and none of the blame. And that’s not fun for people,” Griffin told “Sports Illustrated” in 2019. “They don’t like being part of that world.”
Griffin had taken over a team that needed to win right away. Every move was urgent. Every offseason came with the same challenge — find more help and find it fast, because that was the only way to settle what was often a stormy orbit that surrounded James, or simply the outside noise that he attracted, many times to no fault of his own.
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The team had no room to grow. Everything was about now. And in Griffin’s view, that kind of pressure sucked the air out of the process. It made winning feel like a job instead of a joy.
The stress never let up
Cleveland’s 2016 title was historic. The Cavaliers came back from a 3-1 deficit against a 73-win Warriors team. It was the kind of ending most front offices only dream of. But for Griffin, that moment didn’t feel like a beginning. It felt like the end.
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“Everything we did was so inorganic and unsustainable and, frankly, not fun. I was miserable,” Griffin said. “Literally, the moment we won the championship, I knew I was gonna leave. There was no way I was gonna stay for any amount of money.”
Griffin believed the system had become too centered around James. It made decision-making difficult. He felt that no one could ever be sure if choices were being made for the right reasons, or just to keep the peace around the star.
The interview sparked immediate reaction. People close to James told ESPN they were shocked by the tone. James didn’t mention Griffin directly, but he posted a message on social media the same day. Behind the scenes, Griffin reached out to explain. According to reports, James’ circle asked him to make his position clear publicly. They believed the remarks painted an incomplete picture.
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A title run that came with a cost
The relationship between Griffin and James never turned hostile, but it never felt simple either. The GM respected what The King brought, but he also felt the setup didn’t leave space for anything else. In Cleveland, everything ran through one person. That made the wins bigger, but it also made the work heavier.
After leaving the Cavaliers, Griffin took over basketball operations in New Orleans. From the outside, it looked like a fresh start. Internally, it was a chance to rebuild — with a rookie Zion Williamson, then arguably the most hyped prospect since James; and Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart, all acquired in a trade for Anthony Davis, who had joined James in Los Angeles two months earlier — without the daily urgency that had shaped his Cleveland years.
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Griffin didn’t deny James’ greatness. But he made it clear that being around it came with a price. That price, for him, was joy. And even in the moment that should have felt like a payoff, he already knew he was done.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 6, 2025, where it first appeared.